The Sociology Book

176

T H E “ I ” A N D

T H E “ M E ”

G.H. MEAD (1863–1931)

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

The development of self

KEY DATES

1902 US sociologist Charles

Cooley says our views of self

reflect the standpoint of

significant others in our lives.

1921 In The Language of

Gestures, German philosopher

Wilhelm Wundt says that the

mind is inherently social.

1975 US anthropologist

Clifford Geertz claims the

self is a “distinctive whole

and set contrastively against

other such wholes.”

1980s British-born US social

psychologist Hazel Rose

Markus suggests we each

form a schema based on

past social experiences that

operates as a self-system.

1999 US psychologist Daniel

Siegel suggests that the

development of the social

self happens in concert with

developing brain function.

...the “me”

that represents

the behaviors and

attitudes formed

by interactions

with others.

To have a sense of ourselves,

the “I” can reflect on...

sibling father

grandfather

grandmother mother

friend